"It's... It's Marcella. I've been asked?—"
"I knew you would give in one day and try to come crawling back," Carlo interrupted her.
Marcella glanced up at the ceiling and prayed to all her saints for patience.
"I'm not calling to try to come back, Carlo. I've been asked to act as an emissary between a client and your mother. Is she around?"
"You can talk to me before wasting Renata's time," he said stiffly.
Marcella glanced over at Cosimo and mouthed, 'See? Asshole.'
Cosimo smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. He looked like he wanted to smash her phone.
Mio Dio.That shouldn't turn her on the way it did.
"Well, you are wasting my time right now, Carlo, so listen closely. My client is searching for any information related to Maria Greatdrakes. Apparently, she was in the area a few decades ago. She was searching for a temple to Minerva and met with some of thestreghe. I wanted to see if Renata knew anything about it. It was before her time leading thecongrega," Marcella said quickly before Carlo could interrupt her.
"Greatdrakes. I heard they are magicians. What the fuck are you doing messing with them, huh? You should stay the fuck outof their messes," Carlo replied, his attitude still firmly in the dark ages when it came to any outsiders.
"One of the great things about no longer being married to you is that I don't have to answer to you anymore about who I associate with," Marcella said, trying not to hang up on him.
"We are still married in the eyes of God."
"Which one? Certainly not any of mine," Marcella snapped back. "And not according to the legal paperwork I have in front of me."
"Pieces of paper meannothing. I took your virgin blood. It is a covenant that nothing can break. Your body will always be mine, no matter how far you run, no matter who you fuck. You will always know, deep down, that it was mine first and always," Carlo said, deepening his voice. "Doesn't your body miss me the way mine misses you?"
"No." Marcella cleared her throat and wished she hadn't put this call on speaker. "Ask Renata about the information. She will know who the Greatdrakes are, who their extended family is, and will know that working with them is a good idea." She hung up before Carlo could spout any more nonsense.
"Still a fuckingstronzo," she muttered.
"You know I could have him castrated for you," Cosimo said with a chilling calm. "I could throw it into our deal as a special bonus, free of charge."
"If you do that, what will he use to think with?" Marcella said, trying to lighten the mood.
The dragon was still burning in Cosimo's eyes, and she knew he meant every word of the threat. A dark, forbidden thrill ran through her at the thought of saying yes to the offer.
"You can change your mind at any time," he said and brushed a curl away from her eyes, the slight touch leaving her skin burning. "I mean it, Marcella. He hurts you, he gets hurt in return."
Marcella had never had anyone act so protective over her, and she wasn't sure how to handle it. Her parents had always known she could take care of herself, and Carlo learned it when she left him.
"I don't need your protection," she said, trying to keep her voice steady.
"I know, but it doesn't mean you don't still have it and my family's. We look after our friends."
Marcella frowned. "And we are friends now?"
"Yes. You've sat at my table and eaten with my children. I don't let just anyone do that," Cosimo replied. "And I don't offer to let simple colleagues stay at the Greatdrakes mansion either."
"Has anyone told you that you are a little intense?" Marcella said with a strained laugh. She didn't know how to deal with this man. She couldn't flirt and charm him. It was infuriating that he could look straight through her.
"Not recently. I'd like to say it's the dragon, but it's also me. I tend to decide quickly if I like people. My family likes to say that I can't help adopting people," he said with a fond grin that he usually had when talking about them.
"I don't need a daddy," Marcella said and almost smacked herself in the face when she realized what she had said.
Cosimo's smile only widened in a way that it shouldn't after telling her he wasn't interested in sleeping with her.
"Everyone needs a daddy sometimes," he teased. "You had better get used to the idea that we are adopting you, too, because once the other dragons and fae meet you, you'll see what overprotectivereallymeans."
